Ban on women on the combat line lifted

A top Pentagon official says Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is lifting the ban that keeps American women from combat duty in the military.

The official says Panetta is giving military chiefs until May to draw up plans for implementing the new policy, which is expected to open thousands of front-line combat positions to women in all U.S. military services – Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. The Defense Secretary plans to formally announce the new policy as soon as this afternoon.